Eichelburger was in his third year of studying biology and zoology at Tulane University. Thompson was looking to reap the fruits of an evening he had spent with “Ike” in the French Quarter, during which his friend did nothing but brag about the women he had conquered one summer in New York.

January 9, 1958
110 Morningside Drive
Apt. 53
New York, New York

Dear Ike,

I trust this missive finds you healthy, wealthy, and striving for the dean’s list. I wouldn’t have you any other way, you know.

Seriously, by now I’m sure that you’ve noticed the return address and that you’ve heaved the called-for sigh of relief at the realization that I’m not about to descend on you again… so let me come immediately to the point.

The point is very biological, and that should suit you rather well. To be brief, I am in New York for an indefinite period and I’m desperately in need of sexual satisfaction. I seem to remember now that you spent the summer up here in an apartment full of lusty young women. Where is that apartment: I must know. I would also like to know -just as soon as you can get a letter in the mail- any other names, places, addresses, and so forth, which would be of aid to a young rake prowling around this overpopulated isle. Come now, I’m sure you must know hundreds of uninhibited women I can comfort in my own peculiar manner. No living human could spend an entire summer here without making innumerable vital contacts. And I am indeed serious: if you know any drunks, bums, whores, etc. -by all means clue me in. I have come to write my way to fame and dortune, and I need colorful material.

“Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.”